About the Workshop
Relive the 2025 DMW
Check out the links below to learn more about the event!
- AcquireUp’s Derek Janis Keynote Presentation
- Learn why attendees loved DMW 2025
- CDE Event Images on LinkedIn
Join us for a dynamic day of insights, strategies, and networking at the 2025 Digital Marketing Workshop. Hear from Derek Janis, current CMO of AcquireUp and the marketing strategist behind GM’s $1B BrightDrop launch. Discover how top performance marketers from Pinterest, Google, Ford, and more create experiences that resonate with customers. Connect with fellow professionals during our networking break, then explore how top local sports teams engage their fans in our sports marketing panel. We’ll wrap up with a collaborative lunch discussion, reflecting on the day’s biggest takeaways and unanswered questions, to ensure you leave inspired, informed, and ready to strengthen your own customer connections.
What to Expect
Since 2011, the Digital Marketing Workshop has been an ongoing resource for Michigan businesses. Here are some in-depth discussions with previous speakers about the kinds of insights you can get from the conference.
“What is your best advice for those starting in digital marketing and communications?” (2:54)
“What is one of the biggest blunders a business can make?” (8:10)
As always, the workshop aims to provide thought-provoking and actionable insights. We’re excited to host keynoters and panelists from national and local companies like Google, Pinterest, AcquireUp, Ford, Delta Dental, and more.
This year, the conference kicks off with a breakfast keynote from Derek Janis, CMO of AcquireUp, How Knowing Your Customer Can Drive Revenue. Derek will share insights from developing a marketing strategy that took GM’s new commercial EV and last-mile delivery company, BrightDrop, from start-up to over $1 billion in revenue in just two years—and how he’s applying those skills today at AcquireUp.
We then transition to our first morning panel, How Performance Marketers Get to Know Their Customers, featuring leaders from Pinterest, Google, Ford, and CareerNow Brands who will discuss how they guide customers through their journeys to successful outcomes.
Next, we move to a networking break co-hosted by Kim Barker, Nick Woods, Sufian Qrunfleh, and Alankrita Pandey. Our final morning panel, Connecting with Sports Fans through Storytelling, offers a behind-the-scenes look at how top area sports teams like the Tigers, the Pistons, and the Red Wings connect with and grow their fan bases.
At lunch, we bring back several of the day’s contributors for a closing discussion, What We’ve Learned Today, to reflect on the insights, unanswered questions, and next steps that emerged during the event. View the full agenda here and register here.
